


Sister, sister

by Kinasume



Series: Fairwater Farm [2]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sibling drama, im projecting onto my characters again oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 01:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18355991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinasume/pseuds/Kinasume
Summary: A few weeks ago, after an argument with Demetrius and Robin, Sebastian left the house on a whim and moved in with his datemate, Halcyon, over on Fairwater Farm. Things are going well for the two, but Maru catches Halcyon one day with a bit of a special request.





	Sister, sister

Halcyon yawned as they stared out the window over the kitchen sink, a lazily brewed cup of coffee in their hand. The clock read 4:53 in the morning. They weren't as tired as they might have been at such a time only a year ago, having finally gotten used to the farm schedule they had set for themself. They liked the chance to watch the sun rise, not that they would be getting it this early in the morning in late Fall. Still, it was nice to have a moment to pause and just look out the window at the pond behind the house, bathed in moonlight.

They heard a shuffle of feet, and turned to see their very groggy boyfriend waddle into the kitchen. Halcyon smiled a little as they poured Sebastian his own cup of coffee. "You sure are up early," they commented as they handed the cup over to him. Sebastian hummed.

"Been up and down all night. Restless, I guess," he muttered, pulling the cup away from his lips. Halcyon brushed a bit of hair out of his face.

"Aww, poor baby. Hopefully you don't have a lot to do today?"

Sebastian took another sip. "No, I've finished all the coding projects I'd taken on and I'm giving myself a bit of a rest, since that's something I can apparently afford to do." He sent a sly glance at Halcyon before looking out the window. They laughed.

"I mean, are you complaining? I could give all the money away and we could relive my first year when I barely had the money to feed myself." Halcyon took a sip from their own mostly-empty cup.

Sebastian gave them a shocked look. "You never told me it was _ that _ bad." They nodded.

"Yeah, I don't think I would have called this place sustainable until just before we got together. It was a struggle for awhile, especially since I didn't know shit about growing anything," they added with a laugh. "Big difference compared to where we're at now."

Silence fell over the two as they gazed out the window together. The dark of the house was a comfort, giving them the chance to breathe before the coming day.

"I think I'm gonna take a walk today. Probably won't be back until this evening," Sebastian said as Halcyon rinsed out their coffee cup a few minutes later. They looked up at him.

"Something wrong?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Nah, just need some alone time. I feel like things have been flying past so much lately, I need a chance to reset myself." He smiled at Halcyon in that sheepish way that made them fall for him all over again every time they saw it.

"Okay," Halcyon smiled before pulling him in for a kiss. "Have a good day then. I'll see you later?"

Sebastian nodded. "I'll try to be back by six to help with dinner. Don't work yourself too hard out there." He pulled Halcyon back for another quick kiss before letting them go to get on with their work. They grinned back at him.

"I won't. I love you."

"Love you too, babe," he called as Halcyon pulled on their boots and walked out the door.

\------

The chores went by without much to note. King was sleeping in the straw pile for the horses, and was none too happy to be disturbed when Halcyon needed to kick him out in order to get to the bales. Besides that, everything went off as normal. The only things that needed harvesting were the fruit trees, and the fruit was placed in storage while they waited for a keg to open up for the next batch of wine. That was in line for tomorrow, if all was going well.

Overall the chores only took them a few hours. By the time they were done and rested, it was only about noon. Frequently, after farm chores were done, Halcyon would go foraging in the woods to the south, but that yielded mostly mushrooms this time of year. They were ready for a change, and there wasn't long left in the season for Fall flavors; instead, they took the path up the mountain to the north, to look for hazelnuts.

The hazel trees, which a couple of weeks ago were heavy with green-turning-brown nut shells, were now much more sparse, with only ripe brown nuts available. A few squirrels and birds scattered at Halcyon's approach, leaving shells and bad nuts in their wake. There wasn't a lot to choose from, but after about an hour of picking, Halcyon still had about half of their basket filled from just the initial couple of trees to the immediate north of the farm. And they had only had to scare one daring chipmunk away from the basket.

They chuckled to themself as they entered the area of the mountain where Robin and company lived. Only a few weeks ago, they had been coming up this way every day to catch Sebastian just as he had been waking up, and now they were able to do that from the comfort of their own bed. They looked at the house sadly as they passed behind it; Sebastian had told them the details of what had happened the night that he showed up on their porch after about a day, and after another couple the two went to get his stuff to bring back to the farm. Sebastian hadn't been back since, for all Halcyon knew he hadn't even talked to his mom since. They themself had only been in there one other time since the incident to get some extra furniture from Robin. She had tried, fairly unsuccessfully, to hide how sad she was about the situation.

They sighed as they passed the house, and continued on to the final hazel tree they knew of in the area. This one was surprisingly plentiful considering the time of year; probably because it wasn't so near the other hazel trees, they figured. They had a full basket by the time they were done with it.

"Hey! Halcyon!" They heard from behind them, just as they were getting ready to pick up the basket and head back to the farm. They weren't sure how to react when they turned to see Maru jogging up to them, but they put on as polite a smile as they could.

"Hey Maru! Need something?"

She nodded as she came to a stop. "I was wondering if I could talk to you, actually. About Sebastian?"

Halcyon's mind went instantly on the defensive, but they tried not to let it show, not wanting to come off as harsh or cold. "Oh, yeah sure. What's on your mind?" They picked up the basket of nuts and wandered next to the lake to let the few birds that had been in the hazel come back to forage comfortably. Maru followed close behind.

"I know now probably isn't the... best time, considering recent events. But I wasn't sure when I'd be able to catch you again, and this isn't really a time-sensitive thing anyways, so if there's time needed from anyone it's fine. I don't want to cause any trouble. Just... I guess I was wondering if you could talk to him for me?"

Halcyon gave her a blank look. "About..."

Maru laughed nervously. "Well, um. I know he's not. Especially fond of me? My dad likes to flaunt me around and I think he resents both of us for that. I just... I want to be able to have normal conversations with him. I want to feel like I have a brother instead of a vague concept of dislike. And I want him to be able to talk to me without just seeing the image Dad tries to paint of me." She leaned against the nearby fence, looking down sadly. "I've tried for a long time to gain his approval. As long as I can remember, actually. But the few times I've gotten anywhere, Dad's ruined it for me. And with this latest spat between them, I'm worried any chance I ever had for us to treat each other like siblings is long out the window. I just don't want us to have a strained relationship like this anymore. We don't even really know each other," she cast a bitter glance into the water for a moment before catching herself and looking up at Halcyon apologetically. "Sorry, I don't mean to drag you into our drama. I just don't know who else I can turn to."

Halcyon was quiet for a few moments, looking into the water contemplatively. Sebastian wasn't going to like the idea, that they knew. But they understood where Maru was coming from, perhaps better than most.  _ Worst case scenario, the idea doesn't work out and things go back to how they are now, right? _ They hoped they were right. They took a deep breath, before looking back to Maru with a small smile.

"I can't guarantee he'll take it well. But I can try at least, if you want." Maru beamed at them.

"Thank you so much Halcyon! I really appreciate it," she exclaimed, hugging them for an instant.

"Uh, no problem?" They said, awkwardly patting her back with one hand in hopes that she'd let them go. It had the desired effect, and she looked sheepishly at them as she pulled away. A sheepish smile that was a little too familiar.

"Heh, sorry. Anyways, I'm sure you've got things to do, and I should be getting back to the lab. Thanks again for this, Halcyon," she said as she started walking back towards the house. Halcyon was left standing by the lake, looking onward foolishly, trying to wrap their head around what had just happened. They scratched the back of their head after a moment, before picking up their basket of nuts and heading back to the farm.

\------

The rest of the day went by with little to note. It started raining shortly after Halcyon got back, and they looked out the window hoping Sebastian wouldn't be stuck out in the rain too long. Or at least that he had brought an umbrella.

After a bit of time spent reading, Halcyon decided it was probably time to start dinner. They threw a halved and seeded pumpkin in the oven to roast, and started heating some chicken stock and prepping some chicken. Sebastian would enjoy the pumpkin soup, and some salad with chicken would give Halcyon a great excuse to have some of the hazelnuts that they had just gotten.

They glanced at the clock as the chicken came off the stove and they were starting to puree the soup. Still no sign of Sebastian, and it was already 6:45. They hoped he'd be back in time to have the soup hot.

It was another half hour before they saw him walk in; they had just resigned themself to making their own salad and eating without him. They were glad that that wouldn't have to be the case after all.

"Hey babe," they called from the kitchen. They heard him walk in the other direction without responding, followed by the bathroom door shutting. Halcyon figured he probably needed a shower to warm up after the direction the weather took, and they busied themself putting a second salad together for him and turning the soup back on.

When Sebastian came back out, showered and in a T shirt and sweatpants, Halcyon had their respective salads waiting on the table and was leaning against the counter, soup bowls at the ready. "How much soup do you want? It's pumpkin," they said when he had crossed the room, turning back towards the pot to fill the bowls.

"I don't need a lot. Sorry I'm so late," Sebastian grumbled. Halcyon gave him a sidelong glance at his tone.

"Something wrong?" they echoed the words they had asked that morning.

Sebastian was silent for a moment. "No, it's fine," he muttered. "Just in a bad mood from the rain." Halcyon didn't buy it, but they weren't going to press him if he didn't want to talk about it. They brought the soup over and sat before their own salad on the other side of the table.

They ate in silence for awhile. The air was tense. Halcyon tried to act as if they didn’t notice; they didn't need to be adding any more to what was already bothering Sebastian.

"I thought you knew I didn't like hazelnuts?" So much for that plan. Halcyon craned their neck to look at Sebastian's salad.

"I thought I kept them out of yours, did I put them in by mistake?" Sebastian scraped up the forkful of them that he had been collecting at the side of his plate. Halcyon winced a little. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention." Their apology was met with silence. Sebastian didn't even look at them. They stared at him for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Okay, something's on your mind. Can you tell me so we can stop dancing around it?"

Another pause. Just when Halcyon was starting to think he wouldn't respond, Sebastian said, "I saw you talking with Maru earlier." The resentment was dripping from his voice.

"...Yeah? She wanted to talk to me about something and happened to catch me while I was gathering the hazelnuts." Halcyon didn't like where this was going.

"You know how I feel about her."

"And? I'm not going to ignore her just because there's problems between you two, Seb. She sought me out, not the other way around. Trust me, I was plenty uncomfortable when she came over to me."

Sebastian was quiet for a moment. "What did she want to talk about?" he asked quietly.

"She wanted to talk about you, actually."

He scoffed. "What, to rub in the fact that she's the perfect model child and I'm the family disappointment?"

"She wanted me to ask you to give her a chance! She seems like a better person than you give her credit for," Halcyon said, exasperated.

"So now you're on her side too? You have one conversation and you're already against me?" Sebastian said, voice raised, glaring.

"I'm not against anyone! Least of all you! I-"

"Then what are you defending her for?"

"Because I've been in her exact position!" Halcyon shouted, tears starting to well up in the corners of their eyes. They weren't sure when they stood up. Sebastian was silent, his expression softened just slightly with surprise. Halcyon continued. "My sister treated me exactly the same way you treat Maru all my life. All I ever wanted was her approval, and she never gave it to me. I had to fight tooth and nail for even the slightest positive response out of her. That shit messes with you, Sebastian. I'm still working through problems that I got as a result of that, and I haven't even seen her regularly in years. Maru's a  _ person, _ don't go blaming her for the actions of her father." The tears were falling down their face now.

All at once, they couldn't look at Sebastian anymore. They couldn't handle being anywhere he was. Halcyon ran to the door, out into the rain, and over to the stable to tack up Breeze, before riding south into the woods.

\------

Sebastian was left stunned at the table. He stared at the space that his datemate had been in just moments ago, unsure of what to do with everything that just happened. Halcyon had never talked about their sister before; he knew they had one, that she was older than they were, but that was about it. He hadn't anticipated that they had any sort of a rough relationship with her.

And Halcyon had never yelled at him before. They'd gotten into arguments, sure, but they were usually small, with nothing more than slightly heated voices. Nothing like this. "Fuck." Sebastian slammed his fist on the table, tears just starting to fall. He knew he was being hyper sensitive from the start, and now look at what he'd done. His datemate was who knows where, upset both with him and over their own things, and here he was, sitting useless at the kitchen table, with food they had made for him that he couldn't even stomach looking at anymore. He pushed himself up from the table and pulled on a fresh hoodie and shoes as quickly as he could before leaving to follow his datemate out the door, wherever they had gone.

The hoofprints were visible enough. Sebastian groaned in frustration before running to the stable to tack up his own horse and follow the prints. Halcyon had insisted upon getting a horse for each of them when they had had the stable built. At the time Sebastian had protested, but now he was grateful for it. Storm, his gray gelding, was looking almost expectantly at him when he put the tack on the stall door. "Yeah, I know, don't rub it in," he grumbled, as if the horse could understand him. As soon as the tack was on, Sebastian hoisted himself onto Storm's back and set out to follow the tracks.

Which of course ended as soon as they were out of the farm. They took a slant right into the grass, but it hadn't been raining heavily enough for the soil to turn into mud beneath it and there weren't any obvious signs of hoofprints in the grass. Halcyon could be anywhere in the woods.  _ At least I know they haven't gone into town, _ Sebastian thought, looking at the dirt path around Marnie's ranch and heading towards the town proper. Hoofprints would show up there.

When all was said and done, there weren't that many places Halcyon could be in the woods. That said, Sebastian checked every single one, and couldn't find any sign of them. The rain was coming down harder now, and seeing was more difficult.

"Hal! Halcyon!" 

The steady pattering of rain was the only response. Sebastian cursed to himself under his breath, urging Storm forward again. One way or another, he was finding his datemate. He wasn't going to leave without them.

\------

Halcyon leaned against a downed pillar in the secret woods. It was surprisingly dry here, considering the increasing rain. Some of the trees dripped, but most caught the water and allowed it to run down their branches and trunks. The canopy above did a good job of keeping the rain from hitting the old forgotten shrine. Breeze wasn't too far off, milling about around the pond. Halcyon had already taken care of all the slimes that had shown up for the day.

Their tears were still flowing, even now, an hour after they had left. Every time they stopped for long enough for the stains to consider drying, they had another thought that brought on a whole new wave of fresh ones. They were disgusted with this whole situation; how Sebastian was acting, how they had acted, with their sister, with their own foolish means of coping with everything. They wanted to curl up under Old Master Cannoli's statue and sleep until spring came. Maybe by then things would feel okay again.

They hated themselves for yelling at Sebastian like they had. They knew why he was acting the way he was, and while it was childish of him, they still should have been more patient. Demetrius had put a lot of baggage on that boy, and it wasn't all going to sort itself out overnight. Especially not this soon after the argument that led to Sebastian leaving in the first place. But they hadn't really talked to anyone before about the problems they dealt with as a result of the treatment Syma had given them growing up, and it all spilled out at once. They weren’t even expecting themself to get as upset as they did, and certainly not that quickly. The pain, the rejection, the loneliness that they had experienced all throughout their childhood suddenly felt very fresh and new again. They thought they had left that behind when they had moved out to the Valley. Apparently not. 

They sighed into their hands for the fifteenth time that evening. It was cold out, and they needed to head back. But how could they after that display? How could they face Sebastian knowing they just threw everything he'd ever confided in them right back in his face, with their own baggage to boot? Their stomach turned at the prospect. A million different ways it could go badly ran through their head all at once, and with each one they planted themself further and further into the ground.

Suddenly, they heard a thump a little ways back towards the entrance of the secret woods, the sound of something heavy enough to easily knock them back if it were to hit them. Guardedly they took their sword in their hand and braced themself in case they needed to get up quickly. A slow shuffling sound came through the grass. Their grip on the hilt of the sword tightened.

"...Halce?"

Instantly they dropped the sword at the sound of Sebastian's voice, so small and worried. They couldn't bring themself to move, only to watch as he rounded the corner and came to face them. Pain and worry on his face instantly melted into relief, and then into apprehension as he stood awkwardly a few feet away from Halcyon. A moment passed where all either of them could do was look at the other. Halcyon slowly moved their left hand and patted the ground beside them.

Sebastian hesitated a moment, but walked over and sat down beside their datemate. Halcyon could feel his eyes boring into them, but couldn't bring themself to look at him. They tried to get the words out to apologize, but every time they tried to open their mouth, more tears fell from their eyes instead. Then they felt arms around them and Sebastian's head on their shoulder.

"I'm sorry." The words were so quiet and broken from Sebastian's mouth, but Halcyon heard them clear as day. They jerked their body back slightly and craned their neck to look at their boyfriend.

"What? But-- I'm the one who should be apologizing, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, I-"

"I shouldn't have been so accusatory and upset with you just for talking to her. I should have listened to what you were saying before it came to that."

Halcyon wasn't sure what to say to that. Silence fell over the two in the darkness, the rain in the canopy above the only sound to be heard. Hesitantly, they raised their hand to Sebastian's arm, anchoring themself on him and gently rubbing their thumb over the fabric of his hoodie.

"You shouldn't have been the one to receive my anger. I hadn't even noticed it building, but I suppose it's been there for awhile. It should have been for Syma, not for you. It  _ was _ for Syma."

Sebastian looked up to their face for a moment before settling back on their shoulder. "Why haven't you told me about any of that before? Here I've been complaining to you about Maru all the time, and you haven't even mentioned anything about her."

Halcyon was thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose I didn't want to make it seem like your feelings and your situation didn't matter. And when I came to the Valley, I thought that I would be able to leave all of those issues in the past. I didn't think they mattered anymore." Sebastian's grip on them tightened a little.

"...Do you want to talk about it at all?"

Fresh tears began falling as Halcyon thought. "I mean. I don't think I have the energy to go into detail, but I can give you an overview I suppose." Sebastian was silent. Halcyon took a deep breath. "Essentially, she didn't want to have anything to do with me I don't think. I was little and annoying and my coming into the picture had changed her whole life, and I think she hated me for that. She only did things with me when she had to, and she never let me in any of her spaces or let me watch her do anything or let me borrow her things. I wasn't allowed to interact with her friends under any circumstances unless they were around for dinner. And I wanted her approval so badly, I wanted to be able to talk to her and come to her with problems and have someone other than my parents in the house who I felt might be on my side. But she always pitted things against me, we argued constantly, we blamed everything on each other until we both were making things up just to see the other one get in trouble. And through all of it, I ended up growing to be more and more annoying, because at least if I was bothering her I was getting some sort of attention out of her. But everything always ended badly."

More silence. This time Halcyon didn't break it, instead trying to make themself as small as possible in the hopes that maybe they'd sink into the pillar behind them. Sebastian held tighter.

"I'd like to hear more about things with her, when you're up for it. Doesn't have to be any time soon if you're not." Halcyon nodded before gently resting their head on Sebastian's.

A breeze picked up after a time, and the two shivered at the same time, both still sopping wet from the rain they had ridden out in. "We should go," Halcyon whispered. Sebastian nodded, but when Halcyon moved to stand up, he held them down. They looked to him quizzically, only to be met with soft eyes and a hand gently caressing their face. He pressed a gentle, tender kiss into their forehead before letting them go. Halcyon gave him a small, sad smile as they stood up.

They rode back to the farm in silence, both shivering as the rain pelted them once more outside of the secret woods. They took care of the horses as quickly as they could, then scuttled inside. Halcyon immediately started waddling towards the bed, but Sebastian caught them by the arm first, holding them back. They looked back to him and whined.

"Babe, go shower first. You should warm up properly." Halcyon was quiet for a moment.

"...And what about you?"

"I'll be in there in a minute. Might hop in for the end of yours if you're not out yet." Sebastian gave a weak attempt at a mischievous smile, and if they weren't so exhausted, Halcyon might have teased him for it.

"I suppose," they relented, turning around and heading into the bathroom instead.

They had to admit, the warm water on their skin made them feel a lot better. Still exhausted in every way, but better nonetheless. True to his word, Sebastian came in to join them when they were at the point of simply enjoying the warmth instead of actually cleaning themself. They scooted to the back of the shower to give him a turn in the warmth. Once he stepped into the shower, he pulled Halcyon close and kissed them. They took a moment to enjoy the kiss after the high emotions of the day; then they resigned themself to simply melting into their boyfriend's embrace. "I love you," they whispered.

"I love you too, Halce," Sebastian said quietly in reply.

"You're cold," Halcyon said a moment later. Sebastian laughed.

"Well, that's what I'm in here to remedy. If you'd rather enjoy something warmer, I have a pot of tea going in the kitchen for you." Halcyon stood back up to their full height, arms still around Sebastian, but looking him in the eye now.

"I don't deserve such an angel as you."

Sebastian snorted. "I'm far from an angel. But I do like to make sure that you're comfortable and happy as much as possible." There was that sweet, sheepish smile again. Halcyon kissed him one more time before getting out of the shower to towel off.

Sebastian took longer in the shower than Halcyon had expected. They were nearly finished with the tea by the time he came out and landed on his side of the bed. Halcyon abandoned their cup on the bedside table in favor of rolling over to cuddle next to him, slipping their hands under his new fresh shirt. They felt his hands follow a similar motion. It was a comfort.

"I uhh. I'm going to... try to talk to Maru at some point. I don't know when, but... eventually. When I'm in a better place mentally about everything," Sebastian admitted quietly. Halcyon smiled into his chest.

"I'm glad to hear it. I hope you two can work... things out," Halcyon said quietly with a yawn. They were already falling asleep.

"Me, too." Sebastian kissed them gently on the top of their head as they drifted to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Regrettably, the whole time I was writing this, all I could think of was "Saw you hanging out with Kaitlin yesterday" "R-Rebecca, it's not what you think!"  
> Anyways, my pacing is a little too fast for my liking, but hopefully it reads well for everyone. I recently dove headfirst back into thinking about these two, and after a few weeks of trying to come up with something to write, I realized that I had never actually had them fight about anything. Which, for me with my own characters, is something that cannot stand :) So here we are! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
